The mainland could learn lessons from Taiwan's so-called "New Village" rural development campaign, said some members of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC).

Both Li Minkuan and Liu Yiming are urging mainland policy-makers to study the experience of "special economic cooperatives" set up by Taiwan farmers.

Such cooperatives could help build "new villages" and accelerate the pace of agricultural modernization in the mainland, according the political consultants.

They urged mainland cooperatives to learn from their Taiwan counterparts by providing farmers with credit loans and insurance. Currently, the mainland has over 1.4 million rural cooperatives.